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Greenpeace – Government moves to further weaken freshwater protections as new report highlights poor state of New Zealand drinking water

Source: Greenpeace

Greenpeace says it is deeply disturbed by the findings of the latest Taumata Arowai report, which shows that seven registered water supplies exceeded levels of nitrate associated with an increased risk of preterm birth. The organisation says it is also concerning that this news comes while the Government is consulting on proposals that would further weaken freshwater protections in Aotearoa.
Greenpeace spokesperson Will Appelbe says, “This Government wants to weaken freshwater protections at the worst time, allowing polluting corporations like Fonterra to profit from the contamination of rural communities’ drinking water. This latest data from Taumata Arowai shows that, as we already know, water quality in New Zealand is poor. Now, Luxon’s Government wants to make it worse.”
“Everyone, no matter where they live, deserves to have access to clean, safe drinking water. We should all be able to take a dip in the local lake or river without getting sick. But these basic freedoms that all New Zealanders should be able to enjoy are being taken away for the sake of making a few individuals even more wealthy.”
During 2024, Taumata Arowai received 4 notifications of samples from registered supplies that exceeded the maximum allowable value of 11.3 mg/L for nitrate. Two were for Waimate District Council’s Lower Waihao supply, which supplies Glenavy, and two for Te Kowhai School, a rural school near Hamilton. Seven supplies exceeded 5.56 mg/L – the level of nitrate which international studies have shown is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth.
“Rural communities are most at risk of contaminated drinking water because of their proximity to intensive dairying – a major source of freshwater pollution in New Zealand,” says Appelbe.
“Right now, this Government is consulting on a host of Resource Management Act changes that will, in practice, put corporate interests ahead of the health of people and the environment, especially when it comes to freshwater.
“These changes will give more prioritisation to corporate uses of water, like intensive dairy. This would enable dairy expansion, which means more effluent, nitrate and pathogens like E. coli polluting New Zealand’s rivers and drinking water.
“People across the country want change. They want clean, healthy rivers and water that’s safe to drink. In Canterbury, one of the hotspots of Aotearoa’s freshwater crisis, water protection is set to be a key issue in the upcoming Environment Canterbury elections. Politicians who aim to pollute freshwater should expect resistance.”
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Universities – Selina Tusitala Marsh appointed inaugural Commonwealth Poet Laureate – UoA

Source: University of Auckland (UoA)

Notable New Zealand poet and academic Selina Tusitala Marsh ONZM, FRSNZ has been announced as the first Commonwealth Poet Laureate.

The professor of English at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland is a former New Zealand Poet Laureate and award-winning writer, known for her three collections of poetry and most recently, her bestselling children’s graphic memoir series Mophead.

The appointment, the first in the 75-year history of the Commonwealth of Nations, will run until 31 May 2027 and involve Marsh crafting original poems for flagship Commonwealth events, including Commonwealth Day, the Commonwealth People's Forum and Ministerial and Heads of Government Meetings.

She will also advise on the Commonwealth Foundation’s creative programming – the principal agency for Commonwealth culture – and will appear in person at the Commonwealth People’s Forum and Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua & Barbuda in 2026.

Marsh, who is of Samoan, Tuvaluan, English, French and Scottish heritage, says she is “deeply honoured” to accept the role.

“In Samoan, we say, O le tele o sulu e maua ai figota. ‘The more torches we have, the more fish we can catch’. Poetry is our torch, illuminating paths between our diverse cultures and histories.

“The Māori proverb goes ‘He toi whakairo, he mana tangata’; ‘Where there is artistic excellence, there is human dignity.’ This profound truth guides my vision for this role. Through the elevation of our creative voices, we affirm our shared humanity across the Commonwealth.

“When we honour the artistry within our communities, whether it flows from Samoa, my mother's island, or New Zealand, where I was born and grew up, we recognise the inherent dignity and worth of every person whose story deserves to be told.”

She remembers back to the moment in 2016 when she recited one of her poems at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in front of the late Queen Elizabeth II and other dignitaries.

“Her Majesty charged me with fostering unity through verse, and I felt the weight and wonder of words that bridge worlds. Today, I accept this torch with alofa (love) and renewed commitment to amplify the voices that heal, challenge, and unite our Commonwealth family. Together, we will kindle more torches, casting light on the stories that connect us all, celebrating the artistic excellence that affirms our collective human dignity.”

University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor Professor Dawn Freshwater is delighted to see one of the University's staff honoured in such a significant way.

“Selina is an absolute treasure in the University of Auckland community. She gives so generously of her creativity and time, both on Campus and in the wider community. We are so lucky to work with her, and we're deeply proud she has been honoured in this way,” she says.

“She will do the University, Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific proud, as well as being a vital voice for the humanities. In times of global uncertainty, it's the humanities that help us make sense of complexity, preserve culture, and imagine better futures.”

Director-General of the Commonwealth Foundation Dr Anne T. Gallagher, who made the inaugural appointment, says it places creative expression at the heart of the Commonwealth’s work.

“It is through poetry that we can learn best about ourselves and each other. Poetry helps us make sense of our fragile world. It is the language of love and dreams, the language of despair and desire, of protest and rebellion.”
Gallagher says that at the Commonwealth, they have come to understand that poetry – and creativity in all its forms – is not an embellishment of the Commonwealth story but a catalyst for justice, understanding, and hope.

“Selina Tusitala Marsh embodies that truth. Her poetry travels effortlessly from the smallest community to the global stage: illuminating the concerns and aspirations of our 2.7 billion citizens and challenging all of us to listen more closely. There could be no finer inaugural Commonwealth Poet Laureate.”

Selina Tusitala Marsh was the first Pacific person to earn a PhD in English from the University of Auckland. She lectures in Pacific poetry and creative writing in the University’s department of English and Drama and is the co-director of the University’s Centre for Arts and Social Transformation (CAST), which promotes arts-led approaches to justice, health and well-being.

Marsh’s three acclaimed poetry collections are Fast Talking PI, Dark Sparring and Tightrope, all published by Auckland University Press, as well as the multi-award-winning graphic memoir series Mophead, which she also illustrated.

In 2019, she was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. She was New Zealand’s Poet Laureate from 2017 to 2019.

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Northland News – CityLink bus service to Matai St to be reinstated

Source: Northland Regional Council

CityLink Whangārei is to resume services to Matai St that were suspended in March after a series of rock throwing incidents that damaged buses and put drivers and passengers at risk.
The 16-bus CityLink network is operated by Ritchies Transport Whangarei under contract to the Northland Regional Council.
The council’s Transport Manager Chris Powell says the council and Ritchies had recently agreed to restart the Matai St service from Monday 07 July.
“Northland Regional Council remains committed to supporting the health and safety of drivers, passengers, and Ritchies staff.” “However, with winter now upon us, elderly residents in Matai Street are facing significant hardship having to walk to the next nearest bus stop.”
Mr Powell says the Route Four bus – which had been doing a loop around nearby William Jones Dr while the Matai St services were suspended – would return to its previous route encompassing Matai St from next week.
He says the council has a responsibility to both drivers and passengers to ensure the service is operating in a safe environment and would reexamine the decision to reinstate services to Matai St if more rock throwing incidents occurred. 
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Agriculture – OSPRI expects smooth transition to in-house TB testing

Source: OSPRI New Zealand

The move to bring bovine TB testing in-house at OSPRI officially starts today, as a team of 37 skilled and experienced technicians begin work with the disease eradication agency.
Another 10 seasonal field technicians start later in the year.
OSPRI took over the TBfree national eradication programme in 2013, and testing was done by AsureQuality.
OSPRI general manager disease control, planning and implementation, Simon Andrew, says it now makes sense for the testing to be done by OSPRI, and the transition should be smooth for farmers and the livestock industry.
“Testing in-house is a very important step for OSPRI, as an integrated disease control eradication agency,” he says.
“We’re looking forward to carrying out end-to-end control of TB.
“We’ve recruited a strong team of technicians. The expertise they bring will expand our capability and add value to our other programmes.
“Testing in-house will bring us closer to farmers, which means we can be more responsive to what farmers need from testing, and from OSPRI.”
In any one year, a large proportion of the national livestock population is skin tested for TB. The programme undertook about 1.7 million TB tests in the 2023-24 year.
“We know farmers and our funders, MPI and livestock industry bodies Beef+Lamb NZ, DairyNZ and the Deer Industry Association, want to see us make more efficient use of the levies paid for the TBfree programme,” Simon says.
“We are anticipating the cost savings we gain from doing testing in-house will allow us to increase the investment made into possum control, which is the key to achieving TB eradication.”
Farmers don’t need to change what they do. Routine testing will be scheduled when required and to go through normal channels to book a pre-movement test.
Along with TBfree, OSPRI also manages NAIT, the national system for tracing cattle and deer, and MBfree, the national eradication programme for Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis).
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Local News – Metropolitan Wellington councils confirm new water services delivery model

Source: Porirua City Council

Metropolitan Wellington councils confirm new water services delivery model
Five councils covering the Wellington metropolitan area – Hutt City Council, Porirua City Council, Upper Hutt City Council, Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council – have all now confirmed they will establish a new, jointly-owned organisation to deliver water services to their communities.
The decision to move to this new model for water services delivery has been prompted by the Government’s Local Water Done Well policy, which has mandated that all councils must review how water services are delivered.
In March and April 2025 the councils publicly consulted on water service delivery options. Across all five councils, submissions showed solid support for the preferred option of a multi-council-owned water organisation, ranging from 69 to 84 percent of submissions in favour.
The five councils have now all voted to go ahead with the new organisation, which will take accountability for water services on 1 July 2026.
Mana whenua iwi Ngāti Toa Rangitira and Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika support this decision and are partnering with councils on improving water services delivery.
The new organisation, with the interim name Metro Water, will own and operate public drinking water, wastewater and reticulated stormwater assets for a population of around 430,000 people.
Advisory Oversight Group chair Dame Kerry Prendergast says councils and mana whenua have been clear throughout the process that the intent is to provide better levels of service for communities through reduced leaks, outages and unplanned disruptions, while also enabling growth and delivering cleaner harbours and waterways.
“By establishing a council-owned organisation, we are ensuring assets are retained in public ownership and there is no privatisation. It also means councils, representing their communities, and mana whenua will have ongoing oversight.”
“Metro Water will have the resources, independence and region-wide perspective to effectively manage and improve three waters services for current and future communities,” says Dame Kerry.
The next steps are to finalise key foundation documents for the new organisation, finalise a Water Services Delivery Plan for submission to the Government, and appoint interim board directors and an interim Chief Executive.
For further information, see factsheet below.
Factsheet – what’s planned for water services in Metropolitan Wellington
New water organisation accountable for water services from 1 July 2026
  • There will be a new multi-council-owned water organisation that will take charge of drinking water, wastewater and reticulated stormwater services within the boundaries of Hutt City, Porirua City, Upper Hutt City and Wellington City, from 1 July 2026.
  • For planning purposes, a temporary, placeholder name of Metro Water is being used for the new organisation. This is not intended to be the permanent name.
  • Metro Water will have new governance and ownership arrangements, new leadership and new strategic direction that will distinguish it from Wellington Water.
  • To ensure ongoing service delivery and to retain expertise and experience, it is the intent of councils that Metro Water will absorb Wellington Water operational and support staff below senior management (known as tier 3 and below).
Governance and oversight
  • Metro Water will have an independent Board, appointed by a steering committee of representatives of the five council owners and representatives of Ngāti Toa Rangitira and Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika.
  • Councils and mana whenua will set the framework for Metro Water through foundation documents (currently being developed) – Stakeholder Agreement, Constitution, Statement of Expectations and Consumer Charter. These will be in final draft by October 2025 and ratified by councils in late 2025.
  • Metro Water will operate in line with new water services legislation and regulatory oversight will be provided by the Commerce Commission (consumer protection and charging), the Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowai (water standards) and Greater Wellington Regional Council (environmental compliance).
Charging
  • Metro Water will charge directly for water services. Initially, interim billing arrangements are likely to be in place until Metro Water has established systems and processes. Regardless of billing arrangements, water charges will be clearly separate from rates.
  • Charges will have to increase over the next decade, as the backlog of long-overdue upgrades is tackled. Economic and financial modelling indicates that Metro Water will keep costs about a third lower than would be the case if the status quo continued. That’s because Metro Water will have greater ability to borrow money than councils currently do and costs can be spread over a longer period of time. It’s also expected to deliver economies of scale and efficiencies.
  • The exact amount of water charges will be influenced by a number of factors including how costs are shared between commercial water users and households, the scheduling of upgrade works and investment, and moving to consistent charges across the metropolitan area. Currently households and commercial water users pay different amounts through rates in each city.
Water services delivery plan
  • All councils are required to present a Water Services Delivery Plan to Government by 3 September 2025.
  • The Metropolitan Wellington Water Services Delivery Plan will set out how the five councils will meet requirements of the Government’s Local Water Done Well reforms, including statutory requirements under the Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Act 2024.
Implementation
  • Interim Board Directors will be appointed prior to October 2025 by the council representatives on the existing Advisory Oversight Group.
  • The interim board will appoint an interim Chief Executive and oversee establishment of Metro Water. In due course, the interim board will be replaced by an enduring board appointed by the Stakeholder Committee.
  • Some initial work is already underway on interim director recruitment and planning for IT and customer systems and processes for Metro Water.
  • Implementation is being jointly funded by the five councils. 
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Greenpeace – Official documents reveal widespread opposition to Seymour’s Regulatory Standards Bill

Source: Greenpeace

Documents released to Greenpeace Aotearoa under the Official Information Act reveal that both the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) and Treasury have joined the growing list of bodies issuing strong warnings against the Regulatory Standards Bill.
In a scathing assessment dated 20 March, the Ministry for the Environment described the Bill as “deeply problematic” and warned that it “conflicts with the fundamental principles of the environmental management system” and “poses risks to the health, safety, economic, social, and environmental interests of current and future New Zealanders.”
Greenpeace is calling on the Prime Minister to withdraw his support for the Bill.
“This damning official advice confirms what Greenpeace have been warning all along: this Bill represents an unprecedented threat to our environment and to the Government’s ability to respond to the climate crisis,” said Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop.
The Treasury, in a separate briefing dated 28 March 2025, warned the Bill “could impose costs on agencies exceeding the potential economic and societal benefit” and “may also have a chilling effect on the development and retention of beneficial regulation.”
“What we’re seeing here is overwhelming opposition to the Bill from the very institutions tasked with upholding good lawmaking, public safety, and environmental stewardship. That’s because the real intent behind David Seymour’s Regulatory Standards bill is to tie the hands of future Governments and impose the ACT party’s far-right neoliberal principles on our democracy.”
“This is a dangerous, undemocratic piece of legislation being pushed through via a backroom coalition deal,” said Toop. “It’s time for the Prime Minister to show some leadership and scrap it.”
MfE and Treasury were both particularly critical of the Bill’s proposed expectation that the government compensate corporations for regulations that affect their property. MfE said it risks “reversing the ‘polluter pays’ principle”, and Treasury stated it “goes further than conventional policy in this area” warning it could lead to delays and increased costs on infrastructure projects.
“It’s a simple principle: polluters should pay – not be paid by the public,” said Toop. “But this Bill would flip that on its head, allowing corporations to expect taxpayer compensation for basic environmental and human health protections,” says Toop.
“It is the role of the Government to govern for the collective well-being of the people it serves, and that includes protecting the environment and the climate on which we all depend. This Bill up

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Transport – Funding to speed up market demand for New Zealand’s recycled tyres

Source: Tyrewise

Innovators, investors and change makers are being called on to put their best ideas forward as a substantial investment in funding becomes available to develop the market for tyre-derived recycled rubber material, and create economic value from Aotearoa New Zealand’s worn-out tyres.

Tyrewise, the country’s regulated product stewardship scheme for end-of-life tyres, is looking for initial expressions of interest in its inaugural grant funding round. Expressions of interest are open in this first round from 1 July to 29 July 2025. Up to $7 million will be available over three rounds in a financial year.

Tyrewise works with the whole industry to ensure tyres are collected for recycling or repurposing. The scheme is achieving a high collection rate and is now focussing on developing high-value, best use recycling and repurposing solutions for the tyres, says Mark Gilbert, Chair of Auto Stewardship New Zealand that governs the Tyrewise scheme.

“To enable this goal, Tyrewise is providing contestable funding to help develop end markets for the recycled rubber material from tyres in New Zealand,” Mark says.

Tyrewise has a goal of 80%, of our end-of-life tyres to be recycled and repurposed into new products in New Zealand by its fourth year of operation, and over 90% by its sixth year.

“Tyres are a versatile resource that can be turned into many products or used in a number of processes, such as roading, playground surfacing, as a substitute for aggregate, or even earthquake-proofing buildings. The market in New Zealand isn’t currently big enough though to take all the recycled rubber from tyres which are collected, so the aim of the fund is to stimulate the development of new products and markets here says Adele Rose, Tyrewise Scheme Managers, 3R Group”

The fund is structured into three main ‘streams’ – research and development, emerging markets, and community development. “This allows funding to back projects across the spectrum of the typical phases of product development,” Adele says.

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be a registered New Zealand business, research institute, or university, ideally have been operating for at least 12 months, and have satisfactory environmental, safety and financial performance, among other criteria.

“This is a call for expressions of interest. Once we have assessed them, we will ask for a more formal, detailed application,” Adele says. “Kiwis are innovators by nature, so we’re excited to see what ideas are out there to create a circular economy for tyres here at home.”

To learn more about the fund visit https://www.tyrewise.co.nz/expressions-of-interest/

Tyrewise is Aotearoa’s first regulated product stewardship scheme. It minimises the environmental impacts of end-of-life tyres by working with the whole tyre industry to ensure tyres are collected from registered partners so they can be recycled and repurposed into other useful products.  

The scheme is accredited by the Ministry for the Environment, and is operated by Auto Stewardship New Zealand, a not-for-profit trust which acts as the Product Stewardship Organisation. It is funded by the tyre stewardship fee charged on imported tyres.

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Universities – Can reading the news make you richer? – UoA

Source: University of Auckland (UoA)

Researchers have uncovered a novel way to forecast stock market volatility using daily business news.

Business news can do more than report on financial markets; it can predict where they're headed.

That's the finding from a new study by University of Auckland finance lecturer Dr Justin J. Case and Queensland University of Technology's Professor Adam Clements, who show that utilising business news articles, specifically those published in The Wall Street Journal, can more accurately forecast stock market volatility than other commonly used methods.

“Volatility is a common proxy for financial risk,” says Dr Case. “By accurately forecasting this risk, investors can take strategic steps to protect their investments before market shifts occur.”

Using more than 1.1 million Wall Street Journal articles published between January 2000 and December 2022, the researchers analysed the language used in business reporting and linked it to fluctuations in the S&P 500 – the world's most-watched equities index.

Their study shows that news text offers a forward-looking, real-time lens on market conditions, delivering more accurate signals about risk than the retrospective data typically used in economic forecasting.

The researchers applied a machine learning algorithm to news articles, sorting the text into topics and analysing these alongside high-frequency data on the S&P 500 index.

“We're looking at the world's biggest equities market, and the biggest business newspaper in the US, and asking whether the news explains stock market volatility,” says Case.

“We find that news coverage is strongly related to stock market volatility movements. And by analysing business news articles, we can identify both the topics and specific events influencing stock market volatility.”

Additionally, the researchers found incorporating their news-based measures into benchmark volatility forecasting models reduced forecast errors by over 40 percent at the monthly horizon. They also found significant reductions in forecast errors at weekly horizons.

To show how this could be applied in practice, the researchers used their news-enhanced forecasts in a simulated investment strategy. The strategy saw more invested when the market was expected to be stable and less when it was expected to be volatile. This approach, utilising the news, improved investment performance, with risk-adjusted returns higher than both a traditional buy-and-hold strategy and a strategy using standard volatility forecasts.

“If you're able to forecast volatility more accurately with our news measures, you can decrease your risk exposure, and therefore, increase your portfolio performance.”

Among the news topics the researchers analysed, stock market activity, financial institutions, economic shocks, and government policy were most related to stock market volatility.

“Interestingly, we also identify several news topics associated with a less volatile stock market. In particular, news attention to corporate mergers and acquisitions is associated with reduced volatility. This suggests that increased mergers and acquisitions news coincides with greater confidence in economic conditions.”

The study also finds that sports news is related to a less volatile market.

“This could be interpreted as a distraction effect, where increased attention to non-economic news coincides with lower stock market volatility,” says Case.

Finally, the researchers explore whether the large language model, ChatGPT, can forecast the impact of news on market volatility.

While ChatGPT shows some ability to extract information about volatility from news headlines, the study finds its forecasting power is inferior to the researchers' approach at longer horizons.

“Our method allows for a more granular analysis of news text, capturing term frequencies that provide more nuanced volatility-relevant information.”

In contrast, he says ChatGPT's classification framework is restricted to a coarse categorisation of news headlines.

Read the paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5207116

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Economy – Depositor Compensation Scheme now in effect – Reserve Bank

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand

1 July 2025 – The Depositor Compensation Scheme (DCS) came into effect today, protecting depositors for up to $100,000 in the unlikely event that their bank or other licensed deposit taker fails.  

Licensed deposit takers include banks, credit unions, building societies and finance companies who take retail deposits in New Zealand and are supervised by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.  

The scheme covers money held in standard banking products, including transaction, savings, notice, and term deposit accounts. It protects individuals, businesses and trusts, and applies automatically from today.    

The scheme is established under the Deposit Takers Act 2023, and the Reserve Bank will manage and administer the scheme. It is fully funded by levies on industry.

Kerry Beaumont, Director of Enforcement and Resolution at the Reserve Bank says, “While deposit taker failures are rare, the DCS gives depositors extra peace of mind that their standard banking products are protected. This type of protection already exists in many other countries and contributes to the stability of New Zealand's financial system.”  

The scheme does not cover investments like KiwiSaver, bonds, shares, and similar products. It also does not protect against frauds or scams.  

Banks, credit unions, building societies and finance companies who take retail deposits will list their DCS-protected products on their websites so depositors can check if their accounts are covered. Information about the scheme is also available on the Reserve Bank website.
 

More information

You can find a list of all deposit takers that offer DCS-covered deposits on the RBNZ's website here: https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=7fb4bc651b&e=f3c68946f8

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Annual number of home consents down 3.8 percent – Stats NZ media and information release: Building consents issued: May 2025

Annual number of home consents down 3.8 percent – media release

1 July 2025

There were 33,530 new homes consented in Aotearoa New Zealand in the year ended May 2025, down 3.8 percent compared with the year ended May 2024, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.

“The record for the annual number of new homes consented was 51,015 in the year ended May 2022. While consent numbers fell sharply after that peak, they have levelled out over the past year,” economic indicators spokesperson Michelle Feyen said.

In the year ended May 2025, there were 17,852 multi-unit homes consented, down 8.6 percent compared with the year ended May 2024. There were 15,678 stand-alone houses consented, up 2.4 percent over the same period.

Visit our website to read this news story and information release and to download CSV files: